Mindless Drivel

March 28, 2005

Dear Editor,

Even though the institutional hypocrisy and mindless drivel Frank Gruber exposed doesn't rise to the occasion of "J'accuse" (I hope I got that right...), he deserves a Zola Award (if there is such a thing) for telling it like it is. ("WHAT I SAY: Slinging It," March 28, 2005)

If we could compost the council by-product and sell it as it's spread around, surely we'd never have a budget crisis again.

Since it is my neighborhood they're talking about, I must say that I've never felt as though I'm living in a neighborhood in crisis, endangered to its very core. We can always nibble around the edges of nuanced aspects of zoning regulations, setbacks and densities, but 15 remodels over a three-year period in a neighborhood of many hundreds of houses would only define a crisis in OZ, Zenda, Stalingrad and Santa Monica.

A certain faction on the council has thrived in feeding their compost to The Resentfuls and the Crabbies (Santa Monicans Fearful of Change, et al) so as to create wedge issues and foment reactionary discontent, with re-election the other natural by-product of their excretion.

Stepping on those who don't hold with their views or support their means and methods has never been of concern to them. This Council faction, and a staff rendered dysfunctional by their means and methods, are the primary culprits in disservices rendered to the public.

This bullshit will never walk off the public stage unassisted, or should I say, enter the cow chute of early retirement, unless an electorate wised up and tired of it all takes them out.

Eric Charles Parlee
Architect, Former Planning Commissioner